In top drive rigs, the use of a top drive unit, or top drive power unit is employed to rotate drill pipe, or well string in a well bore. Top drive rigs can include spaced guide rails and a drive frame movable along the guide rails and guiding the top drive power unit. The travelling block supports the drive frame through a hook and swivel, and the driving block is used to lower or raise the drive frame along the guide rails. For rotating the drill or well string, the top drive power unit includes a motor connected by gear means with a rotatable member both of which are supported by the drive frame.
During drilling operations, when it is desired to “trip” the drill pipe or well string into or out of the well bore, the drive frame can be lowered or raised. Additionally, during servicing operations, the drill string can be moved longitudinally into or out of the well bore.
The stem of the swivel communicates with the upper end of the rotatable member of the power unit in a manner well known to those skilled in the art for supplying fluid, such as a drilling fluid or mud, through the top drive unit and into the drill or work string. The swivel allows drilling fluid to pass through and be supplied to the drill or well string connected to the lower end of the rotatable member of the top drive power unit as the drill string is rotated and/or moved up and down.
Top drive rigs also can include elevators are secured to and suspended from the frame, the elevators being employed when it is desired to lower joints of drill string into the well bore, or remove such joints from the well bore.
At various times top drive operations, beyond drilling fluid, require various substances to be pumped downhole, such as cement, chemicals, epoxy resins, or the like. In many cases it is desirable to supply such substances at the same time as the top drive unit is rotating and/or moving the drill or well string up and/or down, but bypassing the top drive's power unit so that the substances do not damage/impair the unit. Additionally, it is desirable to supply such substances without interfering with and/or intermittently stopping longitudinal and/or rotational movement by the top drive unit of the drill or well string.
A need exists for a device facilitating insertion of various substances downhole through the drill or well string, bypassing the top drive unit, while at the same time allowing the top drive unit to rotate and/or move the drill or well string.
One example includes cementing a string of well bore casing. In some casing operations it is considered good practice to rotate the string of casing when it is being cemented in the wellbore. Such rotation is believed to facilitate better cement distribution and spread inside the annular space between the casing's exterior and interior of the well bore. In such operations the top drive unit can be used to both support and continuously rotate/intermittently reciprocate the string of casing while cement is pumped down the string's interior. During this time it is desirable to by-pass the top drive unit to avoid possible damage to any of its portions or components.
The following U.S. patents are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,389.
While certain novel features of this invention shown and described below are pointed out in the annexed claims, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details specified, since a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. No feature of the invention is critical or essential unless it is expressly stated as being “critical” or “essential.”